MAM
Ormax Media launches India’s first Approval Rating Poll of Prime Minister & Chief Ministers
NEW DELHI: Media consulting firm Ormax Media has announced the launch of The Ormax Prime Minister & Chief Minister Approval Rating. Based on continuous nationwide tracking across 22 states and one Union Territory, the polling tool covers 275+ cities and towns in India, with a monthly sample size of 12,000+. The Ormax Approval Rating will be India’s first through-the-year poll to track the public perception of the nation’s leadership. The tracking is being done independently by Ormax Media, with no affiliations to any media organizations or political parties.
Approval Rating is a measure out of 100 (%) of the proportion of eligible voters who approve of the governance of the Prime Minister or the Chief Minister of their state. Speaking on the launch of the Ormax Approval Ratings, Ormax Media CEO Shailesh Kapoor said, “Approval Ratings are a norm in many democracies in the West, including the US. Hence, it is surprising to note that there has been no continuous tracking on the public perception of the political leadership in India all these years. After piloting this project for many months since mid-2018, we are now ready to roll out these ratings in the public domain. In a country with many political opinions and biases, including in the media, credibility and political neutrality are the cornerstones on which this poll has been conceptualized. We will not be sharing any ratings by religion, caste or any other such variable that can take the discourse around these ratings away from actual governance”.
As per the Ormax PM Approval Rating report released for the month of July 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Approval Rating is steady at a high 68 per cent since the third week of July. The peak in July (70 per cent) was seen in the week when the PM went to Ladakh to examine the situation at the border with China. His popularity is the highest in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Punjab, where he enjoys 75%+ Approval Rating in July 2020.
Odisha’s Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Himachal Pradesh’s Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur are by far the most popular Chief Ministers across the 22 states covered in the track currently, with an Approval Rating of 69% each in July 2020. Uttar Pradesh’s Yogi Adityanath and Assam’s Sarbananda Sonowal rank third and fourth on the list.
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Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen to step down after 18 years in role
Board begins CEO search as Narayen prepares to move to chair role
SAN JOSE: After nearly two decades at the helm, Adobe’s long-serving chief executive Shantanu Narayen is preparing to pass the baton.
The company announced that Narayen will transition from his role as chief executive officer once a successor is appointed, ending an 18-year run that reshaped Adobe from a boxed software seller into a global cloud and AI powerhouse. He will remain chair of the board following the leadership transition.
Adobe’s board has formed a special committee to oversee the succession process, led by lead independent director Frank Calderoni. The committee will evaluate both internal and external candidates.
“Shantanu’s leadership has been instrumental in Adobe’s transformation and in positioning the company for the AI-driven era,” Calderoni said in a statement. “As we begin the next phase of succession planning, our focus is on identifying the right leader for the company’s next chapter while ensuring a smooth transition.”
In a note to employees, Narayen described the moment not as a farewell but as a pause for reflection after a long journey with the company.
“I love Adobe and the privilege of leading it has been the greatest honour of my career,” he wrote, adding that he will continue to work closely with the board over the coming months to ensure a seamless leadership change.
Tributes from the technology industry quickly followed the announcement. Microsoft chairman and chief executive officer Satya Nadella congratulated Narayen on what he described as a “legendary run” at Adobe.
“Congrats Shantanu, on a legendary run at Adobe! You’ve built one of the most important software companies in the world, and expanded what’s possible for creators, entrepreneurs, and brands everywhere,” Nadella wrote on LinkedIn.
“What has always stood out to me is the empathy you’ve brought to the creative process and the example you’ve set as a leader. Grateful for your friendship, mentorship, and for all you’ve done for Adobe and for our industry.”
Narayen’s career at Adobe spans nearly three decades. He joined the company in 1998 as vice president and rose steadily through the ranks before becoming chief executive officer in December 2007.
During that time, he orchestrated one of the most significant reinventions in the software industry. In 2013, Adobe made the bold decision to abandon traditional boxed software sales and move its flagship creative tools such as Photoshop to a subscription-based Creative Cloud model. The shift initially rattled investors but ultimately transformed Adobe into a predictable recurring revenue business and a case study in digital reinvention.
Narayen also pushed Adobe beyond creative tools into the world of marketing technology and data-driven customer experience, spearheading acquisitions such as Omniture and Marketo. Those moves helped build Adobe’s digital experience division and broaden its reach far beyond designers and photographers.
The numbers tell the story of that transformation. When Narayen took over in 2007, Adobe generated roughly $3 billion in annual revenue. Today the company reports more than $25 billion. Over the same period, its workforce expanded from around 3,000 employees to more than 30,000.
In recent years, Narayen has steered Adobe into the generative AI era with the launch of Adobe Firefly, aiming to keep the company ahead in a rapidly evolving creative technology landscape.
Born in Hyderabad in 1963, Narayen studied electronics and communication engineering at Osmania University before moving to the United States for a master’s degree in computer science from Bowling Green State University. He later earned an MBA from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley.
Widely regarded as one of Silicon Valley’s most steady and effective leaders, Narayen has earned multiple honours during his career, including India’s Padma Shri in 2019.
For Adobe, the upcoming leadership change marks the end of a defining chapter. For Narayen, however, the story is far from finished. As he told employees, the company’s next era of creativity, powered by AI and new digital workflows, is only just beginning.
